![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.luterra.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/P1030186.jpg\" "\\"P1030186\\"")
<\/a>Weird-looking "mold"<\/p><\/div>\n
We were about to give up and bring some home to show Ali, when Kelly touched it and it melted – ice!\u00a0 Somehow at just below freezing waterlogged sticks extruded long, hair-thin ice crystals through every pore, creating an ice formation with the appearance and texture of cotton candy.\u00a0 We tried eating it – pure water with a slight flavor of the rotting wood it came out of.<\/p>\n The falls themselves are a 70-foot cascade over columnar basalt where one branch of Drift Creek falls into the valley of the other branch.<\/p>\n The bridge is beautiful and provides an otherwise-impossible view of the falls, and we pondered exactly how it was erected out here with no road access.\u00a0 Helicopters?<\/p>\n The trail crosses the bridge and descends to the base of the falls.\u00a0 The bridge itself was covered in a layer of ice, and we were glad to have the railings.<\/p>\n We took a loop trail on the return, exploring a bit more of the second-growth forest with huge rotting stumps of the original old-growth<\/p>\n Bird's nest fungi - the "eggs" are spore-bearing structures, and the spores are dispersed when rain splashes water out of the cups.<\/p><\/div>\n From the falls we drove to Neskowin Beach, home of the ancient semi-petrified stumps preserved when an earthquake caused their forest to sink below sea level.\u00a0 It was 50 degrees and sunny – so different from the 32 degrees and foggy in the valley inversion.<\/p>\n Neskowin Beach<\/p><\/div>\n Intricate sand-patterns on the edge of the surf<\/p><\/div>\n As our final destination, I wanted to check out Mount Hebo, and 3154 feet one of the higher peaks in the Coast Range and supposedly with a good view in all directions.\u00a0 We were a bit disappointed, as much of the top has been pulverized for a former Air Force radar installation and it is still covered in radio and TV towers.\u00a0 It did have a decent view of Mt. Hood and Mt. Jefferson, as well as the ocean, but it lacked the wildness and serenity of Marys Peak.<\/p>\n Towers on Mount Hebo<\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n On December 5, Ebba successfully defended her doctoral thesis, a cause for much celebration.\u00a0 With her parents and friends here, we sampled all six of our fermenting carboys.<\/p>\n Left to right: pinot rose, chardonnay, apple cyser mead, blackberry mead, spice mead, pear mead.<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I’m still getting caught up on posting… On December 3 I invited Kelly to get out of the valley fog and explore some new areas near the coast.\u00a0 We headed first for Drift Creek Falls, famous for its 240′ long, … Continue reading <\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a>